DEARBORN, Mich. -- Armada Oil & Gas Co.'s acquisition of 30 BP retail and wholesale fuel assets and Barney's Convenience Stores in the Toledo/Northwest Ohio marketas reported in a CSP Daily News Flash yesterdaymakes the company one of the largest BP-branded jobbers in the United States, it said, with nearly 300 million gallons of motor fuels supplied annually.
At the close of this purchase, Armada Oil will own or supply more than 250 c-stores. This is the second major transaction in support of a strategy to grow its distribution business in northwestern [image-nocss] Ohio and southeastern Michigan.
Dearborn, Mich.-based Armada Oil has been distributing and marketing motor fuels in the Detroit market since late 1982, and it has been a distributor for BP and BP/Amoco since 1994.
Realizing growth in an established metropolitan area having a number of aggressively competing brands is a difficult challenge, said Allie Berry, vice president of Armada Oil. Yet, in its short history, Armada Oil & Gas has expanded to become a major marketer in such an area. By focusing on sales to dealers and working with them to meet the needs of their markets, Armada has built a substantial and highly successful track record. We've been working on this one for some time.
More acquisitions are likely, he said. It's something that we're looking at all the time.
Berry added that all of the purchased store sites will be rebranded to the Barney's name. That will take some time; with that rebranding will come an updating of the foodservice programs at the stores.
Changes in foodservice will vary from location to location, he said. Some sites are cobranded with a quick-service restaurant (QSR); some have a limited menu offering that includes coffee, fountain drinks and some sandwiches. So we'll also be converting those stores and remodeling them to accommodate the right fit, said Berry.
We are looking forward to our association with Barney's C-Stores/BP and will not only fulfill all of ongoing business requirements, but also intend to surpass the services presently provided. We see ourselves doing more acquisitions in the short term and 2007 will be a prosperous year, Berry said. He also said that the company is expanding its retail presence in Toledo and northwestern Ohio with additional facilities in various stages of development and plan approval.
In October, Armada Oil & Gas Co. completed its purchase of J.F. Enterprises Inc., Perrysburg, Ohio, which operated the 10-unit Barney's chain.
Armada, which had no retail units at the time, bought the stock and all operations of J.F. Enterprises, which has been run by co-owners Marilyn Fox and Robert Richard, who serves as president, since they bought it in 1985 from Fox's father, Joseph Frank Ziemianski.
Richard told CSP Daily News following the announcement of the transaction in July that J.F. Enterprises' vice president Roy Clark would lead the new Toledo division of Armada. It's going to be J.F. Enterprises Inc., division of Armada, he said, and Barney's will be the store name.
The deal was finalized on December 16, added a report in The Toledo Blade. The purchase price was not disclosed.
When combined with the 10 existing Barney's stores, the company will have 34 stations in northwestern Ohio dispensing 70 million gallons of gasoline a year, Roy Clark, Armada's vice president of operations in Toledo, Ohio, told the paper. Before the deal, Barney's sold 17 million gallons a year.
As part of Armada's deal with BP, existing 10 Barney's stations will convert to BP/Amoco gas from CITGO on February 1, Clark added. Signs will be changed by spring, Berry said.
There was an opportunity for Armada to buy these stores, and they picked them up, Clark also told the paper. Their plan is to expand and build more or buy more in this area.
When it negotiated the deal to buy the BP stations early in the fall, Armada committed to adding up to 21 c-stores in northwest Ohio that will get gasoline from BP, Valerie Corr, a BP spokesperson, told the Blade.
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